Crosslinked vinylpyrrolidone polymeric powder has been prepared by proliferous polymerization at high temperatures with vigorous agitation as described in copending patent application Ser. No. 057,378, filed May 6, 1993 for COLORLESS, PURIFIED, POLYMERIZABLE COMPOSITION USEFUL FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CROSSLINKED POLYVINYLPYRROLIDONE. Other vinyl lactam crosslinking processes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,089,910; 5,130,388 and 5,015,708. However, the powder products obtained by these processes are not amenable to molding and lack both mechanical strength and flexibility.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a crosslinked vinyl lactam polymer in the form of a gel which is easily molded into a desired shape having desired flexibility coupled with high mechanical strength and dimensional stability.
Another object of the invention is to provide a polymerizable composition which is readily amenable to conventional molding procedures.
Still another object is to provide an economical and commercially feasible process for preparing a molded hydrogel of a crosslinked vinyl lactam polymer.
Yet another object is to provide a strong, flexible molded product having a high Tg temperature.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and disclosure.